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On October 29, 1956 Britain, France and Israel launched a military operation against Egypt. In a swift, sweeping operation of 100 hours, under the leadership of then Chief of the General Staff, Moshe Dayan, the entire Sinai peninsula fell into Israeli hands, at a cost of 231 soldiers killed. This operation was held in response to the closing of the Suez Canal by the Egyptians and terrorist attacks on Israel that violated the armistice agreement between the two countries.

On October 29, 1956 Britain, France and Israel launched a military operation against Egypt. In a swift, sweeping operation of 100 hours, under the leadership of then Chief of the General Staff, Moshe Dayan, the entire Sinai peninsula fell into Israeli hands, at a cost of 231 soldiers killed. This operation was held in response to the closing of the Suez Canal by the Egyptians and terrorist attacks on Israel that violated the armistice agreement between the two countries.

Moshe Dayan was an Israeli military warrior who became a crusader for peace. He was skilled in both battle and diplomacy, and played a key role in four wars, but also helped negotiate the historic Israeli-Egyptian peace treaty.

First, some necessary background information: on July 30, 1970, Israeli and Soviet pilots clashed over the Suez Canal Zone. In the brief three-minute dogfight the Israelis shot down five Russian Mig-21 without losing a single plan. It was at the height of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the US in the Middle East. Moscow was backing Cairo to the hilt not only with advanced weapons but also with military advisors. However, Russian experts got fed up with Israel's air superiority in Egyptian skies. So Soviet pilots started flying Egyptian Migs to take on the Israelis with the goal of showing "how it was done". But all that we nearly five decades ago.

Avraham "Bren" Adan‎, (5 October 1926– 28 September 2012) was an Israeli general who served in the military between 1947 and 1973. Raised the Israeli "Ink Flag" following the successful Uvda Operation in the 1948 War of Independence, in which the Jordanian outpost in Eilat was captured.

The screening of the Israeli documentary on the 'Shaked' special forces unit in the Six-Day War of 1967 has sparked a fierce reaction in Egypt. One part of the film aired on Channel One television related to the Shaked pursuit operation against a battalion of 250 Egyptian soldiers who had been attacking Israeli targets in Sinai. It is the practice and policy of the Israel Defense Forces to respect the rights of POWs. In time of war, Israel shows captured POWs each one saying his name on television to show they are alive and being fairly treated. In contrast, Arab states do not even release the names of Israeli POWs so their anguished families can know they are alive. Who did what to Egyptian and Israeli POWs? IsraCast presents new information on the burning issue that is threatening Israeli-Egyptian relations.

On The holiest day of the Jewish year, a surprise joint attack by Egypt and Syria crossing the cease-fire lines in the Sinai and Golan Heights threatened the very existence of the Jewish state. 2,586 Israeli soldiers were killed and thousands more wounded.

The Yom-Kippur War began on October 6, 1973 when the combined armies of Egypt and Syria attacked Israel in the Suez Canal area and the Golan Heights. On October 22, the Security Council adopted Resolution 338 calling for "all parties to the present fighting to cease all firing and terminate all military activity immediately."

One of the most controversial issues of the Yom Kippur Protocols were the comments by Defense Minister Moshe Dayan that IDF soldiers, cut off in their fortified outposts along the Suez Canal, would be left to their fate. This flies in the face of the IDF's tradition of not leaving soldiers behind to be killed or captured by the enemy. In an extraordinary twist of fate, IsraCast's Avi Yaffe was doing reserve duty as a radio operator at the Porkan outpost that was surrounded by the Egyptians opposite Ismailiya. Yaffe was in radio contact with Gen. Sharon during the first days of the war including the soldiers daring trek through Egyptian lines back to safety. After the war was over, Yaffe interviewed Sharon who revealed that he could have saved the trapped soldiers in the outposts, most of whom were later captured or killed by the Egyptian forces. In light of publication of the Yom Kippur Protocols, Avi Yaffe has now decided to make public this exclusive and historic interview on his IsraCast website.

Israel Tal (September 13, 1924 – September 8, 2010), also known as Talik, was an Israel Defense Forces (IDF) general known for his knowledge of tank warfare and for leading the development of Israel's Merkava tank.

On the anniversary of the death of Israels former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, IsraCast brings you a reocrding of Egyptian President Sadat's and Israeli Prime Minister Begin's speech from the signing of the Peace Treaty between Israel and Egypt in Washington on 1979.

The 'Tehran Children' was a group of about one thousand Jewish children, most of them orphans, who reached Palestine through Iran in February 1943. IsraCast brings you a sequence of photos which show the 'Tehran Children' arriving in Israel.

By the time you read this article, Israel's Zionist Union (old Labor) will have elected its new party leader. Over fifty thousand Laborites will have determined whether newcomer Avi Gabay or old-timer Amir Peretz will take the helm from Yitzhak Herzog, who lost badly in the recent primary after leading the party into near oblivion.

Full disclosure: early on, Isracast took the position that only Gabay had the slightest chance of defeating Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu if he is the Likud candidate in the next general election slated for no later than Nov. 15th, 2019.

While the rest of the world was looking for the 'smoking gun' in James Comey's testimony against President Donald Trump in Washington, some intriguing developments were going on in the Middle East. After Trump's recent visit, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the Gulf States ganged up on Qatar for its support of Iran, the Muslim Brothers, and Hamas. It triggered a diplomatic and commercial earthquake throughout the region. It stands to reason that the Arab states would not have taken such drastic steps without the green light from the US President. Even though America maintains a big air base with 10,000 troops on Qatar, Trump has accused Qatar of backing Islamist terrorism.

The facts: unlike all the other Sunni Arab states, Qatar is on good terms with Shiite Iran. In addition, it supports the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt against President Al-Sisi while also backing Daesh, Al Qaida and Hamas in Gaza. (The IMF estimates that Qatar is the richest country in the world per capita with an average annual income of $127,000 compared to Israel with $35,000). As for the Jewish state, independent-minded Qatar maintains some informal ties, despite its support for Hamas. But Trump and the Shiite Arab states have concluded that Qatar has gotten too big for its britches, so to speak, and decided to take it down a peg or two. Its capital, Doha, is isolated in the Persian Gulf and will be forced to mend its ways.

All systems are go for Israel's Air Force to start operational training on their F-35s, touted to be the top fighter-bomber in the world. Israeli top pilots have long been training on simulators and are eager to get inside the cockpit. Maintenance crews have also been burning the midnight oil studying the myriad of hi-tech that comes with the $100 million price tag (although funded by U.S. military aid). Squadron leader IAF Col. Yotam promises the F-35s will go operational within a year. In addition, the IAF has permission to upgrade the F-35 with secret Israeli improvements - the products of Israeli hi-tech that have proved so effective in the F-15 and F-16. In an unguarded moment, the squadron leader went gung ho saying we'll make changes the designers never dreamed about and they won't believe it a year from now.

While only the first two landed at the Nevatim Air base, more and more will be coming. Fifty are now on order. The IAf has dubbed the F-35 in Hebrew by the name of 'Adir' - the Mighty. Israel is the first foreign country to be supplied with the F-35. The rest of America's allies will keep an eagle eye on how successfully the IAF integrates this aircraft. If things go well they can be expected to also start ordering F-35s from Lockheed-Martin. So economically a lot is riding on its going operational in Israel.

On Yom Kippur - the Day of Atonement in 1973, the new-born state of Israel was nearly wiped off the map. Egypt and Syria launched a massive surprise attack along the entire lengths of the Golan Heights and the Suez Canal. The IDF was caught napping - when it finally awakened just several hours before the onslaught, Prime Minister Golda Meir and Defense Minister Moshe Dayan rejected a plea by Chief of Staff David Elezar to launch a preventative air strike against the massed Arab forces, about to surge forward. The Israeli leaders feared the US would blame Israel for starting the war because both President Richard Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger did not believe the Arabs would dare attack Israel. In the opening weeks of the Yom Kippur War, it was touch-and-go whether the Jewish state would survive. The IDF forces along the Suez Canal and the Golan were outnumbered ten-to-one in tanks and artillery, and by far more in infantry. Moreover the Russians had just supplied sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to both their Arab allies that shot down an alarming number of Israeli aircraft. In one of the war’s darkest hours, a desolate Dayan was heard to say:

The IsraCast guide to information on the Yom Kippur War of 1973: Access to live recordings from the war, exclusive post-war recording of Arik Sharon discussing his part, historical facts you may not have known about the war and its many complexities, insightful analysis of the war and region, and explanation of the Yom Kippur - the holiest day in the Jewish Year.

The flashpoint between Shiite and Sunni Islam has erupted in Yemen. After Shiite Iran armed Houthi rebels to the hilt, they have ousted the Sunni regime of Sunni President Abd Mansour Hadi. Neighboring Saudi Arabia has had enough. The Sunni regime in Riyadh has launched a major offensive into Yemen with 100 aircraft and an estimated 150,000 troops. Egypt has also dispatched troops, ships and aircraft to fight against the Shiite rebels in Yemen.

In Israel, the Galei Tzahal radio station has reported that al Sisi was willing to contribute 1,600 square kilometers of Sinai to expand Gaza five times its present size. The new territory, together with Gaza, would provide the Palestinians with a Palestinian state under control of the Palestinian Authority, which is headed by President Mahmoud Abbas. On August 6, 2005, the IsraCast website first reported on a land swap proposal for Sinai that was proposed by Prof. Yehoshua Ben Arieh. At that time, IsraCast sponsor, Avi Yaffe even raised the question at a private meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who expressed interest in the idea.

'I know best' this characterized Arik Sharon, both as a vaunted military commander and an unpredictable politician. He is destined to be remembered as the most controversial of all Israeli public figures. To friend and foe he became known as the 'bulldozer'- his driving determination could overcome most obstacles in his way whether his superiors or political supporters agreed or not. Some military commentators have rated him as the best field commander and strategist in the annals of the IDF, while in his subsequent career in politics he was a formidable opponent.